


A Fine Line

by miraculousstorytelling



Series: Klance Week 2k16 [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Feelings, Honestly Just a Lot of Thinking, M/M, These Boys Cannot Handle Emotion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7801300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a fine line between love and hate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fine Line

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 2 of Klance week. The prompt was Love/Hate.  
> Also posted on tumblr under mysteryfics.

There's a fine line between love and hate.

Keith had heard this saying several times over the course of his life. Frankly, it had always puzzled him. Love and hate were polar opposites. Like fire and ice.

And wasn't that just the perfect comparison? Fire and ice. Like Red and Blue's elemental attacks. Like hot and cold. Like Lance and Keith.

Keith was silently staring into the darkness over his bunk. He was blushing, much as he would hate to admit it. Lance was the last thing he wanted to think about, but it seemed like his subconscious had other ideas.

Keith groaned, pulling his pillow over his face in irritation. The dream flooded back into his mind, darkening his blush and making him grit his teeth.

It had been nauseatingly sweet. If it had been a movie instead of a dream, Keith would have switched it off in a heartbeat. He might have even tossed the remote across the room for good measure.

They'd been talking. Just sitting and talking and laughing, hands intertwined and grins for miles. It had been horrifyingly romantic and heartbreakingly perfect. He didn't even remember what had been said. The jokes were long forgotten. All he could remember was how everything felt _right_.

But, it couldn't be right because it was _Lance_ he was thinking about.

Lance, the scrawny, irritating kid who had declared himself Keith's rival and blown into his life like some awful hurricane of gangly limbs and never-ending taunts and attitude, and he had absolutely no right to be in Keith's head of all places. He'd already invaded so much of Keith's life just by being a fellow paladin.

Keith sighed and slipped out of bed. At this point, he wouldn't be going back to sleep. Not with all of these emotions buzzing around in his mind. Not when Lance's laughter was echoing through his mind. Not when every time he closed his eyes, it was Lance that greeted him. Not when that stupid, irritating smile was so damn perfect it made his heart swell with...love?

No.

Hate? But, that couldn't be right either. Keith was intimately familiar with the sensation of hating someone. He'd grown to hate a lot of people over the course of his life. Hate was easy. Hate was comfortable. Hate was simple.

Love was a lot more terrifying and infinitely more complicated. He couldn't be feeling love, but this sure didn't feel like hate.

He tugged on his jacket and grimaced, making his way to the training room. Maybe some time fighting simulators would help him sort out exactly what he was feeling. At the very least, he could distract himself long enough to forget that stupid dream.

 

Lance was uncharacteristically quiet as he looked up at the darkness above his bed. The remnants of his dream still played in his mind. Being home. Being happy. Being hugged and comfortable and loved. His family's voices still sounded in his mind, and it hurt just to remember everything he'd left behind.

Of course, he was familiar with that particular ache. Missing his family came as easily to him as breathing. Breathe in, think of mom, breathe out, think of dad. Rinse and repeat for every brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, and grandparent he could still name with ease.

But, this dream was oddly different.

He hadn't been alone with his family this time. Oh, no. He'd brought someone with him. And this time it wasn't Hunk or even Pidge or Allura or Shiro. Heck, this was weirder than the dream when he'd introduced Coran to his father while the castle mice had performed circus tricks on the sidelines.

This time, he'd brought Keith with him. He'd joyfully introduced Keith to his mother, to his father, to his sisters and brothers and cousins. He'd led Keith along with their fingers intertwined and a devastatingly beautiful smile on both of their lips. He'd let him in on jokes and explained petty grudges between family members. He'd rolled his eyes when his mother had tried to feed Keith. He'd laughed when his youngest sister latched onto Keith's side and declared he wasn't allowed to leave.

The worst part was that it felt so painfully wonderful. He loved it. He loved...

Did he love Keith?

Lance could feel a blush slowly spread over his cheeks.

Could he love Keith?

The thought was horrible, but in its own way, pleasant. It would explain the fixation and how thrilling it was just to get a rise out of Keith. It would make a lot of sense in a kindergarten crush kind of way. Instead of tugging on pigtails or shoving kids off a swingset, he was mocking Keith's mullet and boasting about how he was better and stronger and better looking than Keith.

He might actually love Keith.

The admission was terrifying and terrible. Undoubtedly, Keith would hate it. Keith hated him. Lance was in love with a guy who hated his guts.

Lance couldn't help but laugh at that. Wasn't that just his luck? Wasn't that always his luck? Every crush and brief flicker of affection always seemed to draw him to people who, at best, were uninterested. Romance was a brutal experience for Lance, and it seemed that trend was continuing in the worst way.

He loved Keith.

Finally, _finally_ , he let that sink in. Not that ackowledging it made the realization easier, but at least now he was aware of it.

Lance groaned and pulled his pillow over his face.

"Why did it have to be _Keith_?!" he asked aloud, knowing he wouldn't receive an answer but almost wishing for one anyway.

Then, he cursed and rolled over to try and go back to sleep. Maybe in the morning he could sort all of this out or just pretend that he hadn't experienced this life-ruining realization. It was so much easier to hate Keith. It was so much easier when his teasing and challenging couldn't be mistaken for flirting. It was so much easier to interact with Keith under the guise of hatred.

Now? Well, Lance wore his heart on his sleeve. There wasn't a chance in the galaxy that Keith wouldn't know by the end of the week. And then Keith would turn him down, maybe even laugh at him. All that love would turn sour, and Lance would have to learn how to work with someone he _actually_ hated.

"I can't believe this is happening," Lance said softly.

There was such a fine line between love and hate, and now Lance wished with everything in him he hadn't crossed it.


End file.
